Wedding crasher admits stealing gifts

NORRISTOWN — A Bridgeport man accused of being a wedding crasher has admitted to stealing gifts from matrimonial events in Upper Providence and Lower Gwynedd.

Joseph Patrick Franzone Jr., 36, of the 300 block of Cherry Alley, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Monday to charges of theft by unlawful taking and attempted theft in connection with incidents that occurred between June and July 2013.

Franzone also has been linked to a theft from a wedding reception in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, and an attempted theft of a wedding basket from a reception in West Marlborough, Chester County, according to court papers.

Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Franzone, who also faces drug and alcohol evaluations prior to sentencing.

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Franzone remains in the county jail without bail. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 12 to 24 years in prison on the charges.

Authorities accused Franzone of stealing wedding gifts, valued at several thousand dollars, from a vehicle outside a wedding at the William Penn Inn in Lower Gwynedd on July 7. According to police, a relative of a newly married couple there was helping transfer wedding presents out of the reception hall into a vehicle when some of the gifts went missing.

Franzone, according to arrest affidavits, also faced charges he took a card box shaped like a wedding cake from a reception held at RiverCrest Golf Club’s clubhouse in Upper Providence the night of June 22. Authorities alleged about $9,000 worth of gifts went missing during that incident.

According to a authorities, witnesses saw a man, later determined to be Franzone, wearing a T-shirt and shorts “loitering around the reception area” before picking up the card box around 8:50 p.m. and “fleeing on foot into the parking area.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Lindsay O’Brien.

Defense lawyer Sharon Meisler said Franzone’s crimes were fueled by his addiction to prescription medications.